The present invention relates to a female connector for electrical connectors having a sheet-metal frame which is in the form of a box and has contact spring elements and a connecting part for a cable end. The connector has a reinforcing cage attached to the frame and is in the form of a box with a coding rib.
Such female connectors are used in particular in systems in which up to 50 sockets are arranged in a corresponding socket housing in a connector. The dimensions of the female connectors typically have a cross section of 2.times.2 mm. In order to avoid female connectors being inserted into incorrect receptacles in the housing when a female connector housing is being fitted, coding aids are provided which, like a key bit, prevent an incorrect female connector from being inserted in a receptacle which is not intended for it. The simplest type of such a coding aid is a coding rib, which is fitted in the insertion direction on the reinforcing cage of a connector socket, and engages in a corresponding groove in the socket housing. The coding is provided by choosing the point at which the coding rib is arranged on the reinforcing cage. Furthermore, different forms of coding ribs are possible.
WO 89/05531 discloses a female connector for electrical connectors, whose reinforcing cage is composed of folded sheet steel, with the edges of the folded steel sheet meeting at one edge of the cage, which is in the form of a box, and with one of the edges being formed such that it projects somewhat, and thus forms the coding rib. This type of formation of a coding rib is disadvantageous to the extent that the cohesive nature of the reinforcing cage on the edge on which the sheet-metal edges abut can be ensured at the most by welding or bonding.
In the case of a female connector from the company OSRAM SYLVANIA, a coding rib which is similar to that in the case of the prior art mentioned above is produced, with the difference that the sheet-metal edge which projects vertically upwards in the prior art according to WO 89/05531 is moved to the adjacent side of the cage. This make it easier to connect the edges of the metal sheet of the reinforcing cage to one another. However, it results in a relatively broad and flat coding rib for this purpose, as a result of which it is not possible to prevent incorrect insertion into a receptacle not intended for this purpose in all circumstances. Furthermore, in the case of both the coding ribs described above, the cut edges of the metal sheet are exposed and can cut into the housing walls during insertion, while they "bite themselves in firmly".